C-ring strip package



Dec. 2, 1958 Y H. 6. BROWN 2,862,612 Q C-RING STRIP PACKAGE Filed Jan. 29, 1957 INVENTOR.

Howaxr-d, G. Brown ATTORNEY 2,862,612 C-RING STRIP PACKAGE Howard G. Brown, Worcester, Mass., assignor to Npvelty Tool Company, Inc., Spencer, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application January 29, 1957, Serial No. 637,0?

1 Claim. (Cl. 206-56) The C-rings are usually made of metal wire having -sharp or suitably shaped ends bent in the form of a U or C and arranged to be bent to a closed shape by means of pliers or other type of clamping jaws. For

i United States Patent Patented Dec. 2, 1958 open ends of the strips so that they may be readily removed from the box by insertion of the tool guide therein.

Referring to the drawings illustrating the preferred embodiment of the invention:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the mainbody of the box carrying a set of C-ringclips therein and having the top portion of the box swung into a downward position where it may be readily torn away;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a cardboard shaped and scored for folding up into theshape of the box of Fig. 1;

securing upholstery on a wire mesh frame in an automobile, it is customary to employ a pneumatic tool in which the rings are fed successively in an open shape to the jaws of a plier which serve to bend the open ring into its closed and final condition to secure the upholstery I only to the backs of the rings when assembled, and

in place. Similarly, such a ring with suitably shaped ends may be clamped around a group of insulated electric wires to hold them in a bundle formation. The power tool has a guide arm along which the open rings are 'moved by spring pressure into position for seizure by curved U-shaped guide 22, as shown in Fig. 4. The rings the clamping jaws, and that guide extends outwardly to; V

. such an extent that it will hold a full strip of rings.

The Q-rings are customarily held together in a strip j by means of an adhesive applied to the backs of the rings which permits the strip to bend somewhat as it is forced around a curve in the guide. The rings should,

however, be secured together with such a slight amount of a weak adhesive that the adhesive does not present a deposit of adhesive material on the fabric or gum up the clamping jaws. Hence, the rings are preferably held together wtih such a fragile adhesive that they will break 'apart readily, and the operator must handle the strips carefully to. prevent the strip from. breaking apart before it is mounted on the tool guide for use in the stapling machine. These requirements, therefore, impose restrictions on the packaging of the C-ring strips. -If the strips are packaged normally in a cardboard box and have to be lifted therefrom and manually mounted on the tool guide, there is danger of the strip breaking before it can be mounted.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a wards.

Fig. 3 is a partial perspective View of a strip of rings;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section through the U- shaped and curved tool guide carrying a set of rings and showing the cement in exagg'eratedthickness.

As shown in'Fig. l, the body portion of the box is formed of a bottom 10 having a rear wall 11 and two side walls 12 and 13. Hinged thereto is the removable top section comprising a top wall 14, a front wall 15, and side walls'16 and 17. This removable top portion is connected to the bottom 10 by the relatively narrow cardboard portions between the spaced score cuts 18 which provide for tearing the top portion away from the body portion by a lateral twisting of the material along the line of the score cuts.

The strips are illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 as comprising a set of open C-rings 20 arranged closely'juxta- I posed andconnected by a thin strip 21 of a suitable adhesive film, such as nitrocellulose, and which may be formed, by applying a solution of'the adhesive material whereby some of this material settles in the tops of the crevices between the backs of the rings and forms a continuous but thin strip along the outside. Thus the strip will hold together ordinarily when it is bent around a in this strip are ordinarily forced by spring pressure around that guide and towards the jaws which are to insert and ,bend the open ring into its closedpositio'n.

In order that the curved guide may pick up the strip of C-rings, it is so shaped that it may be thrust into the open end of a strip, as shown in Fig. 1 and the stri threaded onto the guide, as shown in Fig. 4.

To this end, the ring strips 24 are packaged as shown in Fig. 1 with the open end of each strip facing front- The strips are arranged in parallel, and the layers are separated by separately removablecardboard I plates 26 having upturned side flanges 27; These flanges package for such C-ring strips which is so constructed that the open end of the C-ring strip is presented for direct insertion therein of the free end of the tool guide, so that the latter may be thrust into place Within the strip and serve to lift the strip initially from its box and hold the rings in place whether or not they will have been broken apart to any extent by this handling operation, and which therefore obviates the necessity for the ma chine tool operator to pick up the strip manually and mount it on the guide. Other objects will be apparent in the following disclosure.

The embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings comprises a box formed by folding cardboard or other suitable material into such a shape that a portion prevent any sharp edges of the C-rings from slipping off the edge of the plate 26 and lodging there. When one 'row of strips has been removed, the top.cardboard 26 is taken away and exposes the next row of strips there beneath. When the box has been filled with the open ends of the strips all facing toward the open face of the box, the cover portion comprising the walls 14 to 17 is folded up into place and forms a fully closed box having a flap 28 which is folded over the rear wall 11 and secured thereto by adhesive tape.

The box is formed by folding a blank scored and cut as shown in Fig. 2. That is, the two end flaps 30 separated by long scored lines from the bottom are first folded up on the scoring. Then the rear wall 11 is folded up, and the flaps 31 attached thereto are folded over and around the end flaps 30 to form the two side walls 12 and 13, as shown in Fig. 1, which are perpendicular to the bottom. This forms a receptacle having a bottom and three sides which is open at the front, as shown. The top portion of the box which is to be separated from the bottom along the scored and out line 18 has its end flaps 33 first folded up to be perpendicular to the wall 15. Then the top 14 is folded thereagainst i and the two side pieces 34 are bent into place to overlie the flaps 33.

The various parts are suitably secured together, preferably by means of C-rings or they maybe glued together. As shown in Fig. 1, the rear wall 11 has two flaps '31 folded over and secured to the side walls 30. Likewise, the front wall 15 of the top' has' the half sized flaps 33 secured thereto. When the top is bent up along the scored line'l3 to cover over the goods assembled in the lower receptacle portion, then the two half length flaps 33 overlap portions of the side walls 30 of the receptacle and the outer side walls 34 of the top portion lap over these, so that there are now three layers of cardboard at the two sides of the box. Hence, when thetop has been positioned by securing theflap '28 in place against the' rear wall 11, the box has the strength imparted to it by the three layers at the sides, and itmay be roughly handled because of the strength of this construction. The flap 28 which is secured to' the rear wall 11 also adds rigidity lengthwise of the'box.

It will now be appreciated that I have provided a two part package for C-ring strips. One part comprises a receptacle which has an open front end towards which the C-ring strips face so that they may be readily removed by inserting the tool guide therein. .The other part of the package, which may be entirely separate from or-is detachably connected to the receptacle, is a cover portion comprising a front and a top wall adapted to close the open front and top of the receptacle so that when the parts have been assembled a fullyenclosed receptacle is provided. The box portions are preferably made of a laminated cardboard blank having acorrugated reinforcing center layer and which has been score marked and cut as shown in Fig. 2 so that the various flaps may be folded as above explained to form the package. Although the two box parts may be fully separated along'the line of the scoring 18, yet it is preferred that these parts be connected by the spaced uncut'cardboard portions at the scoring 18 which may be readily torn apart to remove the box top from the bottom receptacle portion. In the construction illustrated, each of the receptacle parts has four walls which when'assembled form a complete enclosure for the C-ring strips; Both parts preferably comprise end and side walls so that when assembled, the structure has the strength of themultiple overlapping wall layers. Also, as above explained, the separators between'the C-ring strips have their upturned end flange 'parallel with the box ends and the strips so that the downwardly projecting prongs of the C-rings" I cannot become caught or entangled with the edge of the separator. The C-rings have their prongs projecting downwardly so that the tool guide lifts directly on the ring back.

The primary advantage in this construction lies in the fact that the receptacle bottom has both an open top and an open side for the ready assembly and removal of the strips and that the cover half serves to close those openings for shipping purposes. The cover may be readily folded down after the flap 28 has been released, as by moving the C-rings employed to hold it in place, and then the top may be readily disengaged from the receptacle by tearing it away alongthe line 18. Thus the weakly adherent C-rings in their strip may be readily mounted on the tool guide without danger of their being broken-apart by manual handling. This box construc tion makes it'possible to use the minimum of a very weak cement for holding the C-rings together and which will be readily stripped from the ring and not interfere with the ring clinching operation.

Various other advantages will be readily apparent in the construction, and it will therefore be appreciated that modifications may be made in the package within the scope of the invention and that the above description is to be interpreted as setting forth apreferred embodiment and not as imposing limitations on the appended claim.

I claim:

A C-ring strip package comprising a scored cardboard blank folded along the scorings and forming a receptacle having a bottom, a rear wall and two side walls and which is open at the top and front, the rear wall having flaps folded over and extending forwardly through half of the length of each side wall, said blank also forming -a cover portion having a front wall, a top wall and two the receptacle, the said front wall of the cover having flaps folded over and extending throughout half the length ,of each, adjacent side wall, said cover walls being arranged to fold over the receptacle and fully enclose its contents with the flaps aligned and forming a third wall thickness at the sides of the package, a set of separately removable separators having upstanding flanges parallel with and adjacent to the side walls, and sets of open ended C-ring strips mounted on and spaced by the separators parallel with the flanges and arranged with the C-ring prongs facing downwardly and positioned by said flanges and with the open ends of the strips exposed at the open front of the receptacle and positioned to have a guide inserted therein for lifting each strip from the receptacle.

References Cited in the file of this patent l UNITED STATES PATENTS 

